try not to blink.
My sister Natalie just sent me pics and video of her and her husband Joe working at the OCC processing plant in North Carolina.
Given how much our church participates in this program every Fall, you’d think I’d know the stats on how many boxes go through this place. All I can tell you is, it’s a lot.
So here’s to the generous people who’ve donated time and money to make this venture what it is to millions of children each year. ch:
A few weeks ago, my friend Jason Clement was watching TV late at night when he randomly checked his email on his iPhone. Seeing iTunes had sent him a receipt for resent purchases that he couldn’t quite recall buying, he skimmed the message.
“$45?” he said, looking bewildered, as it wasn’t just the price tag that shocked him, but the context. “In-app purchase of Dino-what?”
Like any good dad, he touched base with his high schooler, Autumn. Knowing she wasn’t the dinosaur-gaming-addict the bill claimed she was, it soon became clear what had happened.
That week Autumn had babysat The Hopper Kids. And I’ll freely admit, even Judah, at just 2.5 years old, can work his way around an iPhone and iPad with shocking dexterity. Maybe without thinking, or maybe without knowing, Autumn’s iPhone was commandeered.
My three eldest then went on a dino-shopping spree that, taking into account a few million years of inflation and ancient currency forms, was tantamount to what the White House threw away to Solyndra.
Yesterday morning when Jason stopped by to pick me up at the house, in view of all the children, Jennifer handed him $45 cash. He waved it off, reminding us that it was a good lesson for Autumn. But still Jennifer insisted. When he declined it a second time, a little voice piped up below them.
“I’ll have it,” Luik said, hand innocently outstretched.
The story still makes me laugh. But Luik’s willingness to effortlessly take ownership of the cash – a sum he doesn’t have any true sense of value for, accept in maybe how many rounds it can buy him at the candy claw game at CiCi’s – reminded me of another story. One where a Manhattan pastor bet a visiting friend that it would take over an hour to give away a $100-bill for free on a midtown street corner. The friend argued it’d be gone in mere minutes.
In the end, it took over 2 hours to give away.
And the wealthier accepter of the bill? An 8-year old girl who simply asked the pastor, “Excuse me, mister, but is that $100 really free?”
“It really is,” he smiled.
“Thanks!” and with that she walked away smiling.
Jesus wasn’t being figurative when He said we needed faith like a child. He meant every word. Somehow we adults have a hard time receiving; I know I do. Having a strong work ethic, an appreciation for time, and a value of the intangible qualities of life will stoke that fire.
But so will pride.
While there’s always the playground hotshot to be seen, I’ve found that most children are not yet victims of the one thing that keeps most adults from receiving from God. Pride.
May I challenge your attitude toward receiving from the Lord today?
If its being offered, I want it. God, if you’re making it available, I’ll have it.
Receiving is an art birthed in children, lost on adults, and forced on the elderly. Yet the Giver continues to make His gifts available to us all.
Receive. It helps life move forward. ch:
I am the luckiest man in the world. Luckiest, if you have a weak grip on reality and trust fate. Blessed, if you understand that God honors choices made in pursuit of Him, regardless of shortcomings.
But before writing on the subject of family – a fitting theme – I want to wish my father, Peter Kirk, a very happy 64th birthday. He taught me virtue, faithfulness, stewardship, and what it means to be masculine in creativity. But more, he showed me through years, not just words, what it meant to love Jesus and family selflessly.
Happy birthday, Daddy. ch:
___________________
WARNING: If you don’t believe in God, or even Providence, then this piece will irritate you.
Even deists will be irritated. If God is distant and uninterested in human affairs, do yourself a favor and stop reading.
Bye bye.
Everyone else – believers in God and divine appointments – how does your family rate in importance?
Now, family can be a touchy subject, so rating them can be difficult.
We all have “the crazies.” You know who I mean. Aunt Mary who smells of mothballs and cheese; Grandpa Sal who swears loudly at punk kids with long hair; and Uncle Frank who flirts with the bride at every wedding he attends.
But even the crazies are important to God. Important enough for Him to trust you with their bloodline, and their legacy – great or small.
So how would you rate your family’s importance in your day-to-day life?
Low? Medium? High?
No matter what your classification, let me help take it to the next level.
If God is truly intentional and deliberate, then of all the 7 billion people on the planet – or roughly 3 billion families – the one you were assigned to is pretty exclusive. Statistically speaking.
So important that 7 billion other people didn’t get your family.
But think even broader. You won the lottery with the most enormous odds of all, because you were born in this era, not in the hundreds previous. Which means your family was handpicked for you by God over thousands of years, not just from billions people.
It would seem He knows what he’s doing, and thinks you’re pretty special to handle the circumstances you were born into. Good. Bad. Or ugly.
When your parents bewilder you, your siblings frustrate you, your kids dumbfound you, and your in-laws freak you right out, remember: you won the family one-in-a-billion lotto.
Literally.
Digesting that statistic may just be the key to letting your parents awe you, your siblings encourage you, your kids bless you, and your in-laws support you.
But there’s almost no hope for smelling like mothballs and cheese. ch:
[Photo by Joanne Nesbitt]
I think it’s important that church leaders are able to learn from and reiterate what other leaders are saying, especially within our own churches. The Kingdom is not just a “we teach, congregants learn” model, though there is certainly a place for this scripturally; rather, it’s all of us learning, being challenged, and growing as the Body of Christ.
Yesterday’s message by Pastor Kirk Gilchrist at New Life was chalk full of good stuff, but one point in particular really got me thinking. I decided to break the point down even further and examine it here with you:
Q: What if everyone evangelized like you?
What if everyone reflected Jesus through acts of kindness in public, words of encouragement to strangers, or employed intentional-compassion bent on winning their neighbors to Jesus like you? What would the growth of the church look like?
Q: What if everyone gave like you?
How many felt needs would the church be able to meet? How many orphanages could we build? How many marketing campaigns could we create that promote the Christ-like values Jesus sought to instill in people through stories? Would we be any closer to eliminating a government-based health care system with a church-funded one? Considering 5% of Protestant Christians tithe (1% of Catholics), and those are mostly age 55 and up, what does that say about your demographic’s responsibility for funding a great end-time revival? (Barna Research 5/19/03)
Q: What if everyone served like you?
If everyone shared the level of enthusiasm, self-sacrifice, and dedication that you show toward opportunities to serve others, how many lives would be effected corporately? How many missions trips, small groups, or cleaning crews would be soliciting for empty positions?
Q: What if everyone worshiped like you?
Would Sunday mornings be a vibrant, living testimony provoking jealousy out of unsaved or new believers attending that morning? Or would they be wondering if you were new to all this too?
Far too often we’re critical of what the church “should” look like, instead of being critical of what we look like. Since we’re the church. And there’s always at least one person following your lead (whether you know them or not). ch:
This winter a good friend of ours, Justin Wagoner, broke his back in a snowmobile accident. While he and his wife operate their own construction company, and have two beautiful little girls, Justin himself did not have health insurance. Not only has he been unable to work for the past several months, but his medical bills are mounting.
Miraculously, Justin has made made huge progress, even walking on his own now. What the doctors expected to take place over many months, Justin is doing in mere weeks. Clearly, Jesus still heals!
But the Wagoners do need a financial miracle. And while we believe prayer is a part of it, God has fully enabled the Church do handle such a task. I don’t need to pray about giving to a family in need. I give.
Jennifer and I will be performing a benefit concert tonight for the Wagoners; you can tune in live at 7pm EST tonight. We’ll be playing our favorite songs from artists like Norah Jones, Rascal Flatts, Eva Cassidy, and more. But I’m also asking that you consider giving toward this wonderful family. You can click on the church’s PayPal link below…
And when prompted, just open and fill out the “special instructions” dialog box…
All monies are tax-deductible, with a year-end receipt mailed to you. Any amount you feel lead to give helps lessen the burden on this wonderful family.
As a special “thank you,” I’m offering free a download for those that give. This is a reference mix of “Set Me Free” from our new album, Heaven Meets Earth, recorded Saturday night, January 2nd 2010. It will never again see the light of day as it’s the most raw look at a live recording, unmixed, unmastered, used only for letting the musicians and engineers examine their performances.The voice you hear in the beginning is my father, Peter Hopper, “slating” the take. I will keep this up for only a few days, and ask that you adhere to the honor system here. You give, you get. Please do not download the rack unless you’ve helped the Wagoners.
CHB Set Me Free Unmixed (click on drop down to “Save As Source”)
Jennifer and I thank you for caring for our friends. ch:
I must say that I am not a shopper. I don’t like shopping. I don’t like comparing prices. I don’t like browsing. I am a hunter…I’m in and out. Make the kill, drag the carcass out. But last night as I was shopping with Jennifer, picking up a few final gifts for our kids, I dare say I had an epiphany.
Luik is now two years old, the age of awareness when it comes to trucks and cars and making explosions (all loves that never really leave a guy…I was kinda’ waiting for this age with him). Likewise, I was given the responsibility of getting boy-toys for Luik, as Jennifer confessed to having no clue what to purchase. Given our incredibly busy schedules, most of this was left to last night; fortunately stores stay open late for just such reasons.
As I was…ummm…hunting…I found myself completely and thoroughly engrossed in my task. I was shopping for my son. Buying boy things, like Matchbox cars, and tracks, and Thomas the Train, and Disney’s Cars. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun. And I don’t think I’ve ever been so fascinated with the toy section of a store…accept for maybe when I was a boy over twenty years ago.
Suddenly I realized that this is they very reason why my father, Peter, still buys me a toy each and every Christmas; he loves giving his son gifts…toys to play with…
…in a flash, the epiphany went a step further…
…this must be what our Heavenly Father feels like. Why would such emotions be limited to humans, if they first didn’t originate from our Creator? He loves to give good gifts to His children (Matt. 7:11, James 1:5). In fact, the very nature of God is generous at His core (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). Although the preaching of certain aspects of prosperity have been taken to extremes, this does not nullify the fact that our Daddy loves to lavish us with presents…a feeling I touched in a new way last night. I experienced, if you will, a new facet of the divine nature of God.
While my daughter, Eva, slept for her nap this afternoon, I was busy in the family room assembling her new dollhouse. Thinking of her delight when she sees it tomorrow. Dreaming of all the memories she’ll have playing with her dolls in it. And it was then I had another epiphany provoked in part by something my pastor said to Jennifer and I this week. It’s not just about what our kids will get, its about what we get as parents: The experience of watching. God gives to bless us, yes. But He gives because He loves to watch. Emphasis on He. In the end, its not even necessarily about the gift, but what the gift provokes…
…in both parties.
Here’s to all the children that will walk in new, profound joy in the morning…and to the father’s like me, and the Father Himself, who delight in the profound ability to give…
…because we just can’t help ourselves.
Merry Christmas,
CH